A gas pipeline system may include one or more wellheads, pipelines, and compressor stations. Underground reservoirs or wells of natural gas may be brought to surface level by the wellhead. The natural gas may be transmitted along the pipeline to other locations, often times over great distances. The natural gas in the pipeline may be pressurized by the compressor station. By pressurizing the natural gas, the compressor station may provide a propellant force to push the natural gas through the pipeline. The compressor station may be one of many located at predetermined distances on the pipeline that may help maintain gas pressure within the pipeline and facilitate movement of the natural gas therethrough. The compressor station may include a gas compressor that may be powered by an internal combustion engine. Fuel for operating the internal combustion engine may include methane in natural gas diverted from the pipeline into the internal combustion engine.
Hydrocarbons other than methane may also be found in the natural gas in the pipeline, and these hydrocarbons may be detrimental to the performance of the internal combustion engine. At least one system has been developed to upgrade a raw natural gas stream from a pipeline to remove unwanted hydrocarbons. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,150 to Fenstermaker (“Fenstermaker”), discloses a gas compressor operated by a gas engine. Fuel for the gas engine comes from raw field gas in a pipeline. A membrane separator such as, for example, a silicone membrane, is used to separate unwanted hydrocarbons from the raw field gas, to upgrade the raw field gas before it enters the gas engine. However, the membrane separator may hinder the flow of fuel to the gas engine, and thus, may negatively affect its performance. Furthermore, the membrane separator may become damaged or clogged during use, requiring downtime for the gas compressor and/or gas engine to fix or replace the membrane separator.
The system of the present disclosure is directed towards overcoming one or more of the constraints set forth above.